Flooring is a huge portion of the real estate in any room. When planning your Atlanta home renovation, consider adding a durable solid surface, plank product or high quality vinyl to your new space to act as a great background or base for your other design choices.
Carpet, Hardwood Flooring or Something Else?
The traditional placement of vinyl in the kitchen, carpet in the bedrooms and hardwood flooring in the living room has been turned upside down by the luxury vinyl products available for all areas of your home. This is not the peel and stick from your first apartment or the floral pattern found at great-grandma’s house; luxury vinyl is extremely durable, easy to clean and gorgeous. If your Atlanta home renovation includes a bath, mudroom or kitchen, check out luxury vinyl.
Most of these products mimic the look of wood or stone, though you can get them in a variety of tones and patterns. Not only will this choice make it easy to clean up spills, dog footprints and kid messes, but it’s soft and comfortable to walk on and can work in any room of the house.
How Low Can Your Carpet Go?
Shags, sculpture, and high loop carpets are out for this year. Carpets are low loop with cut strands interspersed to add softness and visual interest. This carpet is ideal for bare feet with the low loop bonus of being easy to clean.
If you decide to put down carpet during your renovation, check out the great quality carpet pad now available. Instead of dealing with the chopped, loose fiber foam, you can have a high quality rubber pad put down under your low nap carpet. This combination of low nap, easy to clean carpet with a thick, cushioned carpet pad will keep your home theatre space or family room cozy.
Wood Was Never So Glamorous!
If you want a true red oak or southern yellow pine tongue in groove floor for your Atlanta home, you can have it! You can also have a gray barn-wood finish, a wide-plank cedar that can handle the moisture of a bathroom application, or a herringbone parquet pattern.
Thanks to the reclaimed wood movement, you can enjoy lumber with a rustic look that provides you a smooth, comfortable finish. Many of these materials are built to click together and float on your floor, rather than needing to be glued or nailed down. The wood flooring installation is extremely quick.
Curiously enough, wood flooring trends are not traveling in a specific direction. In fact, they’re moving in a hub and spoke pattern. At the center is traditional wood; one spoke is a manufactured wide plank wood-look product, while another leads toward the environmentally friendly cork and bamboo. If you like a dark floor, you can find it. Want a lighter finish? You can find that too.
Bigger is Better
Large format layouts, including ceramic or porcelain tile wide plank wood and vinyl are extremely popular and will make a great choice. Large format tile make your space look larger and give you fewer grout lines to clean. However, be aware that this option can be tricky to install because your floor has to be extremely level for these large tiles to sit evenly.
Wide plank fabricated panels, whether in wood or vinyl, offers a huge variety of colors and materials, is easy and fast to install, and often offers some flex. If your dream of a large format tile floor is not to be because your subfloor is just no even enough, check out the variety of tones and patterns available in the wide plank product line.
Customize Your Tile
Ceramic tile can be formatted to look like almost anything. In addition to 12 by 12 tiles, you can also find 12 by 24 tiles, ideal for off-setting and using in a custom pattern. You can purchase ceramic tiles styled to look like wood grain, or even like marble. For those who’ve always dreamed of a marble bath or foyer but worried about slipping, your fabulous new floor is now available!
Walk Lightly on the Earth and in Your Home
If using recycled products is important to you, consider investing in carpet for a portion of your renovation. Nearly all carpet manufacturers in the United States are using recycled polyesters, and many of the product lines include a nylon product with additional silky strands of carpet, making it especially plush. Most of these carpets are produced in a heathered finish, rather than a solid color.
This heathered finish, in combination with a great quality pad and tightly packed silken fibers, will result in a heavenly finish on your bedroom floor.
For other environmentally friendly flooring, consider
- 1) Cork, available in panels or tile
- 2) Bamboo, available in wood panels
- 3) Polished concrete, which you can dye or stain to your color preference
Conclusion
Flooring technology continues to expand, and the design options are endless. Check out the Restor-It flooring showroom in the Atlanta area to review the options available. Furthermore, ask your neighbors about their flooring. For example, talk to folks who’ve installed large format tile or cork plank panels and see how it wears. Consider your household and the amount of wear your floor will need to withstand, consult with one of our flooring installation experts, then pick the best option for your Atlanta home renovation. Enjoy your gorgeous new space.
